How to diffuse an argument

In my previous blog entry, Kendra made a comment that referenced a status I had up sometime last week-- something about how Allan is a "normal" person (emphasis on the quotation marks here). I promised to elaborate more later, so here I am now.

Couples argue. That is a given fact. After all, we're all individual human beings and we're bound to disagree from time to time. And, all arguments must end, some way or another. Sometimes they end because one party concedes that they were wrong and the other was right. Sometimes they end via compromise. And sometimes they end because both parties ran out of steam but will pick up again right where they left off, the next time this issue (or something similar) crops up.

Then, there is the solution that seems to work well in the Kwee/Knight household: laughter.

Allow me to illustrate:

A few years back, shortly before his birthday, Allan and I were having a pretty intense argument, about what exactly, I no longer remember. But I do remember bringing up a point about his maturity (or lack thereof?) for I emphatically said: "You are a 36-year-old man!", as if to say "you should know better!"
Which... isn't really so bad. Except for the fact that he was still only 34 at the time. I didn't do it on purpose, either! In the heat of the moment, I honestly thought he was already 35 and just a few weeks away from his 36th birthday! With such an unintentional yet hilarious insult, how else could the mood go except for us to dissolve in a fit of giggles?

So how about the heated discussion that brought about that "normal" status?
Well, a person invariably talks differently to their spouse than they do to other (i.e. "normal") people, right? There's less formality, fewer inhibitions, more familiarity. And we were arguing about how I talk to him. He pointed out that he was my husband, and then emphasized that point with: "I am NOT a normal person!"
It was all I could do to keep a straight face... for about 5 seconds. Long enough to dawn on him what he just said, and for both of us to start up the raucous laughter again. This was even better than the "36-year-old" remark, because this time HE foisted the insult onto himself-- all by himself, too! I've never let him forget that "not normal" assertion ever since!

They say laughter is the best medicine. Apparently, sometimes it even serves as a pretty good antidote for major quarrels and minor spats!